Flight of the Pigeon
by gloridaise
Summary: Voltronkingdom!AU.18 year old Katie Holt is determined to find her missing family members after they disappeared on a mission to the distant lands of Kerberos. Join her as she faces the deadly Galra forces,as well as their prince, Lotor, who seems to have taken an interest to this cross-dressing spitfire.Will she fall for the enemy prince, or will a broken solider claim her heart?


**Prologue**

" **The Disappearance"**

Katie Holt stared at the tattered picture in her hands. It was stained from years of teardrops hitting its surface and slightly crumpled from clenching it to her chest so often. She still remembered the day it was taken like it was yesterday, although in reality it had been years.

Her brother, Matt and her father had been about to embark on their mission to the distant lands of Kerberos to run some tests for the kingdom of Altea. Katie had begged them to take her with them, but they refused, claiming that it would be too dangerous for a young girl such as herself.

In an attempt to cheer her up, her brother had pulled out his old camera and the two of them had posed together for a picture.

Matt's large, round glasses had sat low and crooked on his face as usual, and a goofy smile played on his lips in an attempt to make his sister laugh. Her face was frozen in a wide smile, which was an indicator that his attempts had succeeded, but you could still see the tears in her eyes.

Her father had kissed my mother goodbye and drew me into a tight hug before hopping into the front seat of the carriage. Her brother had hugged her mother and squeezed her hand.  
"I'll be back before you know it, Pidgeon.", he said softly, and with that, they were gone.

A year passed, and another, and another, and still her brother and father had not returned. The trip was only supposed to take a year at most, and Katie began to worry for her family. Her mother did her best to reassure her, but Katie knew she was just as worried.

Then, the officials from the Altean Castle had come. They were tall, muscular, and broad shouldered. Their shiny armour carried the v-shaped emblem of the Royal Altean Guard.

A blonde guard with light yellow markings on his face and a scruffy beard stepped forward.

He wore a grim expression and his voice was gravelly when he spoke. "Madame Holt?" Her mother gripped the sides of her skirt. She forced a smile. "How can I help you, Captain?" He swallowed hard. "Your husband, Sam Holt and your son, Matt Holt have been deemed missing in action. I'm sorry, Mrs. Holt."

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Katie watched in horror as her mother collapsed onto the ground, holding her face in her hands and sobbing. Sobs racked her frail body and her short brown hair fell around her face. Katie took a step backwards. The words of the guards kept replaying in her mind. _Missing in action._ Katie knew what the meant. Dead. Gone. _I'll be back before you know it, Pidgeon._ "No.", Katie thought. "No! No! No!", she screamed.

Before she knew it, she was running. She had no idea where she was going. Tears blurred her vision. Branches slapped across her face and arms, leaving cuts all over her. Eventually, she stumbled over a rock and tumbled to the ground. She hissed in pain as she struggled to catch herself, scraping her hands and knees.

She lay there for a while, breathlessly crying. "It doesn't make any sense", she thought. "They were with a trained soldier. They were supposed to be safe. They were supposed to come back." Soon, day turned to night and Katie finally picked herself up off the ground and made her way back home. "They can't be dead. I will find them."

 **Act I: Pigeon's Flight**

Katie tugged the wires from the broken firestarter. She grinned. As she suspected, the wires were frayed and disconnected from the core. She quickly replaced the wires and checked the core to make sure the runes were written correctly. She closed the cover with a snap and flicked the switch. A small purple flame matching the colour of the core gently flickered from the top and Katie smiled triumphantly.

"That should do 'er", she said, handing the firestarter back to the man who had brought it in. "That'll be three crowns, please." The man placed the money on the counter. "Aw, Katie. I d'nno what we'd do w'out 'cha.", he smiled. Katie grinned back. "Have a nice day!", she called out as he left. She sighed happily, counting the crowns she had received for the day. "That's plenty to pay for mom's medicine", she thought. She rubbed her grease stained hands on the sides of her work apron, and closed up her market stall for the day.

On the way back home, she stopped at Mrs. Greene's shop to pick up her mother's medicine. "Katie, dear? Is that you?", the wizened old woman called from her spot by the fire. Mrs. Greene was rumored to have some amount of future sight, given to her by an ancient race called the Taumeer. "Yes ma'am. It's me.", Katie responded.

The old woman slowly got to her feet and hobbled her way over to a long table covered in herbs, scrolls, bowls, books, and other miscellaneous objects that Katie could only guess what they did. She had always been better with wires and gears rather than pure magik. It just made more sense to her. "Here for your mother's medicine, are you, dearie?", she asked. "Yes, ma'am.", Katie said politely.

Mrs. Greene rummaged through cabinets for a while before throwing different liquids and herbs into a bowl and crushing them into a paste. She muttered a few words over the bowl, then carefully scooped the paste into a small brown box. She handed it to Katie, who slipped it into the brown pouch she carried at her hip.

She pulled out four silver crowns to give to the woman, but she gently pushed them away. "On the house this time, dear. On the house.", she said.

"Are you sure, Mrs. Greene, I mean-", Katie began. "I'm sure. Please, stay a while. Have some tea.", Mrs. Greene said, smiling. "I don't want to bother you.", Katie said. "Now, now, child. Come have a seat by the fire." Katie stepped towards the fire and noticed that not one, but two teacups had been sitting on the table, already filled with warm tea. Katie took a seat on a stool next to Mrs. Greene's old rocking chair. "So you're headed out tomorrow morning then?", Mrs. Greene asked. Katie didn't even bother to ask how she knew that. "Yes ma'am. Off to begin my work as a maid in the castle.", she lied. " Hopefully I'll be able to send enough money home for mom." "Oh your mother will be fine.", Mrs. Greene chuckled. Then her expression darkened. "The castle is a dangerous place as of late. Many false friends lurk there.", she took a sip of her tea. "But lifelong companions as well. I trust you'll be in good hands."

Katie knew it was always wise to listen to Mrs. Greene's predictions, as they always came to pass in one way or another.

"Well!", the old woman said after a few minutes. "It's getting quite late for an old woman like me, and your mother will soon need her medicine." She led Katie to the door. "Don't you worry about your mother. I'll make sure she gets her medicine." "Thank you very much, Mrs. Greene". "Yes, yes. Now you be careful out there, Pidge", she responded, closing the door behind her. Katie spun around, about to correct her, but Mrs. Green had already retreated into her house.

 **XxX**

Katie carefully opened the door to the small cottage she shared with her mother. If she was asleep, Katie didn't want to wake her, but upon opening the front door she saw that the room was illuminated by the small fireplace. Katie's mother turned and smiled upon her daughter's entrance. She stood over the stove, mixing something in a pot. Katie quickly rushed over to her mother. She was pale and her brown eyes seemed sunken in and lifeless. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes.

"Mom! You should be resting!", Katie exclaimed. Her mother smiled weakly. "I'll be fine, honey.", she reached into a cabinet and pulled a jar out. " I figured I should do something nice for my daughter before she goes off to work in the castle." Katie's expression softened. "Here, mom. At least let me help.", she said.

Soon, they sat together in front of the fire, happily slurping their steaming bowls of soup. "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Katie? The castle is a big place, and it's so far…", her mother trailed off nervously. "Don't worry, mom. I'll be fine and I'll write to you as much as I can. Are _you_ going to be okay?" Her mom chuckled. "I'll be fine, Katie. I'm an adult. I can take care of myself, but come to think of it, so are you." Her mother was right. She had just turned eighteen just last month. Her mother frowned. "Are you sure this is what you want, Katie? I know how much you love working on your inventions in the shop." "Yes, I'm sure mom. You know how much I've always wanted to go and see the world." This was true, but her mission was top priority. Her mother gave a sad little chuckle. "You're just like your father, you know. Stubborn, determined, and brilliant." Tears welled up in Katie's eyes. "I'm gonna miss you, mom." "I'm going to miss you too, Katie."

 **xXx**

Katie woke before the sun came up. She tossed her few belongings into a worn brown pack. Among those things were her diary, her tools, some of her brother's old clothes, bandages, a pouch of crowns, a dagger, and her picture. She tied her hair back and slipped into a comfortable dress and boots. She crept down the stairs, trying not to wake her mother. Reaching the base of the stairs, however, she realized that this was all in vain, as her mother was already waiting for her, a small bag in her hands and tears in her eyes. "Mom…", Katie trailed off. "Be safe, my beautiful girl.", her mother said, pulling her into an embrace. "I will,mom. The guards from the castle are meeting me at a nearby inn to escort me to the castle." Her mother hugged her tighter. "I can't lose you too", she sobbed into her daughter's hair. "I'll write you as soon as I get there.", she replied. "I love you mom." "I love you too, my little Pigeon.", she said tucking the small bag into her pack.

 **xXx**

Soon Katie Holt was on her way through the forest. It was a long walk to the inn and an even longer walk to the castle, at least the guards would be waiting with a horse for her to ride at the inn, but for now, she enjoyed the solitude. Katie had never been a very outdoorsy person, preferring to stay indoors with her inventions. She was also quite the antisocial person, finding that people usually got disinterested whenever she talked tech, which was her favorite thing to think about.

However, tech was not the only thing on Katie's mind as she walked down the forest path. She worried about her mother, wondering if she would be okay on her own, but above all else, Katie Holt was thinking of her mission. Finding her father and brother.

Although she would be able to easily move through the castle and eavesdrop with little suspicion as a maid, Katie knew that the guards would have access to certain areas and information that a maid wouldn't. Katie planned to try to get close to a member of the royal court as a bodyguard so she could listen in on court dealings and hopefully get some leads on the whereabouts of her family. Also, she fretted that one of the officials who came to break the news to her and her mother might recognise her and be more inclined to keep an eye on her.

Once the small village was far behind her, she stopped by a babbling, clear river. She leaned over it to drink then fished around in her pack until she found them. The scissors. She raised them to her hair then hesitated. In the kingdom of Altea, long hair on a woman was a sign of grace and beauty. Katie had always been proud of her chestnut brown hair, which hung in waves down past her waist. She took a breath and snipped the scissors just beneath her ear. If she was going to fulfill her mission, she could not hesitate.

When she stood, she was a bit taken aback by how much lighter her head felt. She looked down into the river and watched her hair flow down stream. She was amazed to see how much she looked like Matt, although her hair wasn't nearly as frizzy as his. Then, she changed out of the lilac dress she had been wearing and put on some of her brother's old clothes. They were a bit baggy and loose on her, but they fit well enough to serve their purpose.

"I'm not Katie anymore.", she thought, staring down at her reflection, determination in her eyes.

 **xXx**

Night had fallen as she finally reached the small, ramshackle inn. The sign above the door said, "Juniberry Inn" in sloppy red letters. Katie could see a small stable off to one side of the building. She took a breath and pushed open the door to the inn. Inside, scantily clad waitresses served huge tankards of dark alcohol to the rowdy patrons of the bar, who shouted and whistled at the passing serving ladies. A man sat in a corner, playing a strange instrument that looked like a cross between a banjo and an accordion. A small bowl sat at the man's feet with a sign that read "Tips". The inn was, in short, loud.

Katie scanned the bar for her escorts, until she spotted two men in Altean uniforms.

One was tall, dark, and lanky. His slender face was framed by shiny dark brown hair. His dark blue eyes were currently focused on a particularly pretty barmaid, who looked incredibly uninterested at his seemingly futile attempts to flirt. His smirk seemed to stretch all the way up to his dark blue facial markings.

Next to him, a larger man was hunched over a plate of….something. Medium length brown hair was pushed out of his face with a bright orange bandana. Light yellow markings framed the sides of his dark brown eyes.

Katie dodged drunkards and waitresses as she made her way over to the bar. She plopped down onto one of the creaky barstools next to the duo. The tall one seemed enthralled with the unfortunate lady. "Must be hard being pretty.", Katie thought to herself before turning to the bigger man.

"Soooo….I'm guessing you're one of my escorts.", she said awkwardly. The man looked up from is plate. "Oh hey! You must be one of the new recruits. The name's Hunk.", he said cheerfully. "And this is Lance.", he said pulling on the distracted man's ear. "Ow ow ow! Hunk! I was just getting somewhere with this little-. Oh. She's gone.", Lance turned back towards Hunk. "What is it?", he huffed. "C'mon, man", Hunk said, gently punching Lance on the arm. "This is the guy we're supposed to be escorting to the castle!" "Who, this small fry?", Lance said, laughing. Katie found herself noticing how punchable his face was. "Well, what's your name, short stuff?"

Katie jumped, realizing that she hadn't thought of an alias for herself. Although Lance seemed a little slow, she still doubted he'd believe that her name was Not-Katie. "I-I'm Pidge-", she stopped. What kind of name was Pidgeon? She had just said the first thing that came to her mind, which happened to be her old nickname.

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Pidge.", Hunk smiled. "You too, Hunk!", Pidge said, returning his smile.


End file.
